Days when we had refuel and repleneshment at sea were long days for everyone, including the chaplain. Yet, I would take every opportunity to pray with and for my crew that I could, even if, like on this day, it was only to tell a quick story and pray a psalm. I like this story, because so few young people these days are even aware of the U.S. Space program, let alone its history. And I can think of no better prayer lesson than a psalm, which also has the advantage of being prayable by nearly everyone aboard who does pray.
Today was a nice day for a RAS, and we were along the USNS Wally Schirra. For those of you who may, like me, want to know the stories behind the names of these ships, Wally Schirra is a cool one.
Walter Marty Schirra wsa born in Hackensack, NJ on March 12, 1923. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1945, so World War Two was over by the time he got to his first ship, but he was still destined for combat as a Naval Aviator. Schirra flew 90 combat missions during the Korean War, where he shot down at least two enemy aircraft and earned the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross. But it was while he was a test pilot at Pax River that he began the process that eventually led to his being selected to become one of the original seven astronauts of the U.S. Space Program.
He was selected for Project Mercury, which was the United States’ first effort to put humans in space. On October 3, 1962 Schirra flew the 6-orbit, 9.2-hour, Mercury-Atlas 8 mission—a solo mission. He thus became only the 5th American and 9th human ever to travel in outer space. He wasn’t finished, though.
In the two-man Gemini program that followed Mercury, Schirra was the first man ever to conduct a rendezvous in space. He piloted his Gemini 6A spacecraft within one foot of its sister craft, Gemini 7, in December 1965. He still hadn’t finished with space.
In October 1968 he commanded the Apollo 7 mission on an 11-day low-earth-orbit shakedown test of the 3-man Apollo command and service module. Apollo 7 was the first crewed launch for the Apollo program. In other words, Wally Schirra test flew a space ship.
Schirra was the first astronaut to go into space three times, and the only one to fly in the Mercury, Gemini, AND Apollo space programs—all three of them. He logged a total of 295 hours and 15 minutes in space—almost 12 ½ days. After the Apollo 7 mission, he retired from NASA and from the Navy with a rank of Captain. He passed away on May 3, 2007, an American Hero. His remains were committed to the deep by the crew of the USS Ronald Reagan on February 11, 2008.
LET US PRAY
O You who hear prayer,
To You all flesh will come.
Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions,
You will provide atonement for them.
Blessed is the man You choose,
And cause to approach You,
That he may dwell in Your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Of Your holy temple.
By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us,
O God of our salvation,
You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
Who established the mountains by His strength,
Being clothed with power;
You who still the noise of the seas,
The noise of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples.
They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.
You visit the earth and water it,
You greatly enrich it;
The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.
You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
The pastures are clothed with flocks;
The valleys also are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, they also sing.
AMEN
An Orthodox Priest Abroad 